Brazil was the # 1 trading partner for the Miami Customs district in 2010 and has been the top trading partner for more than a decade. It is Florida's # 1 trade partner with over 15 Billion in annual trade. Of that, 13 Billion is export to Brazil, so there is a lot of room for increased trade importing to Florida.
In my recent blog post entitled "The 3 Dirty Words Unspoken by U.S. Customs Commissioner Bersin", I had advised that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin had established some priorities. One of the most prominent action steps already implemented by Commissioner Bersin was to reassign Todd Owen from his position as Executive Director for Cargo and Conveyance Security at CBP Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to become the new Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles, California.
Alan Bersin, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, gave a rousing speech to the international trade community attending the AAEI Annual Conference & Expo on Monday, June 7, 2010 in New York City. Instead of focusing on the typical law enforcement concepts of counter-terrorism and national security, Commissioner Bersin enthralled the audience with more business savvy concepts such as "risk management" and "improved trade facilitation".